1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a vial and seal assembly. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an oral liquid dose vial and seal assembly of the type commonly used for dispensing a single dose of liquid or powdery medication.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Oral liquid dose or "unit of use" vials are commonly used mainly in hospitals, for dispensing liquid and occasionally powdery medication to patients.
More specifically, liquid (and occasionally powdery) medications are often ordered for patients in doses of approximately 5 to 50 mililiters. Pharmacies, mainly pharmacies of hospitals, commonly dispense such doses of liquid (or powdery) medications by transferring a single dose of the medication from a large container into a sealable vial or small bottle. After sealing, the vial or small bottle is delivered to the patient. Prior to taking the medication, the patient or an attendant breaks the seal. Thereafter the entire contents of the "unit-of-use" vial are orally taken by the patient. The broken seal, and usually the vial as well, is discarded after such one-time use.
During the recent years it has also become important to seal and safeguard the above-described oral dose medications in a tamper evident manner. For this reason, the prior art has provided seals which include a rubber (or like material) lined aluminum cap. A tab is attached to the cap. In order to break the seal, a user pulls on the tab to destroy the aluminum cap. Some lined aluminum caps of the prior art have a metal insert wherein a conspicuous puncture mark is left if, while tampering with the contents of the vial, a needle is inserted through the seal into the vial. The above-noted prior art oral liquid dose vials and seals are manufactured, for example, by Wheaton Scientific Corporation of Millville N.J.
A significant disadvantage of the above-noted prior art liquid dose vial and seal assemblies is that the lined metal cap must be affixed to the vial by appropriately crimping the cap to the vial. The crimping operation is often performed separately for each individual vial through the use of a crimping tool, or with a crimping machine into which the individual vials are usually manually fed. As it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, the crimping operation is undesirable in a pharmacy because it is time consuming and therefore expensive. The wasteful nature of the crimping operation is particularly appreciated in view of the fact that the oral liquid dose vials are usually filled with medication and are used and discarded within a short period of time, usually a day or less.
An additional disadvantage of the oral liquid dose vial and seal assemblies of the prior art is that they often leak. As it will be again readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, accidental leakage of medication from the vials is highly undesirable, particularly in a hospital environment.
For the above-noted and other reasons, a definite need exists in the prior art for an oral liquid dose vial and seal combination which is inexpensive to manufacture, requires no tools for assembly or sealing, is substantially leak-proof and tamper evident. The present invention provides such a vial and seal combination.